SelfRighteous
by Tale Spinner
Summary: Arcturus Mengsk ponders his past, present and future. R&R please


Disclaimer. StarCraft and the characters appearing in it are owned by Blizzard Entertainment. They are used here for story purposes only.

Diary of Arcturus Mengsk I, Emperor of the Terran Dominion

48hrs after the battle of Char.

Damn it. This is not how it should've gone. Damn that Kerrigan. I had the biggest fleet this sector had ever seen on my side and she wiped them out without catching a breath. Now I'm left barely with the scraps of the fleet. I already lost most of them to the UED, but Kerrigan reduced the remaining ships next to nothing. Yes, UED. If I didn't already have enough troubles from the Zerg, now led by Kerrigan, and from the few separate fractions which have refused to join the Terran Dominion, then the UED had to come along all the way from the Earth to try establish their own rule here. Initially, they totally managed to shatter everything I had spended years to achieve in a few short days. But I'm totally puzzled how they managed so easily to penetrate the security system Edmund Duke I and devised after the Confederacy had been overthrown. They must've had some inside help, otherwise it would've not been so easy for UED to stomp through my defenses. If I ever discover who that traitor was, he or she will better have gone with the UED, otherwise I'll make the traitor suffer so badly that even the claws of the Zerg would feel more welcoming then.

Like it or not, I have to thank Kerrigan for helping me to reclaim the rule of Dominion from the UED at least. But thanks to her last act of treachery, Duke is dead. Currently, I have no one reliable to handle the everyday management of troops and other minor matters. I've begun the selections, but it takes time to find able and trustworthy person for the job. I have to check and double-check every little detail from their files and resumes. It will eventually come down to few persons which I have to put into several tests to gain absolute confirmation of their abilities and trustworthiness. Finally, one of them qualifies and that person shall have the honor of becoming my second-in command.

Then there's the matter of my fleet. When UED first attacked, they destroyed the physic labs which powered the Battlecruisers weapon systems. I had only the Nukes left for defense but they alone didn't serve me much good. Fortunately the UED left the Nukes intact before they fled so at least they'll be in use for future. The fleet which I had in the battle of Char has been reduced to something which barely could take over a small Terran base, perhaps not even that. There'll be no hope to gain help from elsewhere for a while. I've used up my old favors so it's not likely that I receive help from them again unless I do something for them first and to those whom I made a few concessions are more likely to steer away from me for now. It'll take a while to appease them. I ordered the repairs of the physic labs to start immediately after I returned. On top of that, there are currently various repairs and reconstructions underway around the entire Korhal. All of them going at the same time will draw resources very thin. There's no choice but to start some aggressive mining on every possible place on Korhal and on the few nearby planets.

Other area where I believe we were let down as well was the current technology we have. After assessing the situation, I noticed the technology hadn't made any great leaps in many years, only some minor improvements here and there. That doesn't surprise me, considering the Confederation hadn't much time or resources to come up with anything new in the recent years. All that it had available went battling against my former group Sons of Korhal and other dissident factions. After I came into power, there wasn't any time to consider any technical upgrades, the Zerg infestation and other troubles took away all the attention I could spare. Then UED arrived with some enhancements no one had ever seen in the Koprulu sector. They had improvements to the functions of certain units, and brought along some new units as well. Those who were left behind to continue fight after I was saved just in the nick of time by Jim Raynor told me very interesting stories about UED's arsenal after I returned. Their Valkyrie frigates were quite a surprise when they appeared. They took down the few remaining Wraith fleets with few losses on their side. The Medics are definidently their most useful ground unit. No wonder their soldiers marched pretty much without any great effort through our defenses because the Medics kept the them on line even after several injuries were caused on them. Even when the Medic was injured, another one was not far away to heal the injured one. That kind of action certainly saved their expenses on training new soldiers each time when older ones fell. Why didn't the Confederacy think of that I'll probably never know. Well, considering their disregard for lives of others, other than their precious rulership, everything else was expendable. Like Korhal was.

I wonder if the Korhal ever prospers again, since 95% of the planet is a wasteland. I'd like to help it prosper by not using the nukes on it, but as things are, I don't have any choice on the matter when other forces try come invade it. Maybe someday when all this is over, one way or other, Korhal begins to prosper again. Whenever I live to old age or not too see it may not matter, it still takes several generations for soil to grow new life again. No matter what it takes, I shall make Korhal safe to prosper, no matter the cost.

Fortunately, there's something that can be salvaged from all this. When UED fled in the hurry of our combined attack, they seemed to have forgotten some of their equipment here. A full squadron of Valkyrie missile frigates was found intact from landing bay F, which is usually reserved for emergency landings. Those fighters will make a fine addition to my crippled fleet and once the tech personnel manages to tear one of them apart and study their mechanics, we'll be able to add them to our production lines. They can also contribute to the development of future ships and vechiles. R&D department will have a great time tinkering with the possibilities the fighters and other equipment left by the UED will offer. Upgrades the UED had developed will boost our current vechiles and provide a way for better improvements in the future. Best of them all is the medical technology they brought with them. Imperial medical team is already studying its details. Once they've learned everything from it, we can begin training our own Medics for field duty. There shall no longer be any needless wasting of manpower, too much of it has been lost already.

My fleet must be rebuilded along with Korhal and its defenses. New vechiles and units must be developed and older ones enchanced to ensure the defense and security of Korhal and my people. Korhal has experienced too many invasions recently, it must not ever happen again. When Zerg or maybe even the UED dares to show their faces on our doorstep again, we'll be ready for them. I've underestimated my opponents too much in the past, but not anymore. Things will be different from now on. But first I shall bide my time and set everything ready for next battle. I won't be caught with my pants down again.

It feels like an eternity but it hasn't been a long time when I was a leader of the Sons of Korhal. So much has happened since. After doing hit&run battles against Confederacy for years, things suddenly changed completely on the day when I answered to a distress call from Mar Sara. The Zergs had invaded it and were about to wipe out the surviving colonists. A local Magistrate had been holding them back but without any reinforcements, they weren't going to last long. After stating my case, the Magistrate accepted my offer without hesitation. I must admit I was impressed immediately. The reputation he'd managed to gain in such a short time as a Magistrate gave me a good impression of him in advance. Most people I've associated with during my resistance days almost always hesitated and squirmed before finally accepting my offer for help. While the shuttles I had send approached the Evacuation Zone, I observed the place. Magistrate handled the defense of the evacuation site with professionalism I don't remember seeing in other people with similiar status and office during my resistance years. I was even more impressed. Other ones nearly always asked direct aid from me against the Confederates. Magistrate held his ground alone against the rampaging Zerg only with the weakest of equipments at his disposal, considering what he told me later at our first face to face meeting that it had been his first major battle. At that moment I was certain he would make an excellent addition to the ranks of the Sons of Korhal. His associate, a local Marshall called James Raynor was rescued from the Confed prison ship and proved to be able person as well. Many of the colonists and militia that came with Magistrate and Raynor filled our ranks with fresh troops I'd been lacking for quite a while.

On our way to our hideout in Antiga Prime, I decided to make Magistrate a Commander of our field operations because I was sure he'd be more than capable in that area. Raynor was capable of sharing field activites with my second-in command, Sarah Kerrigan. By having Commander to supervise the field operations, I was able to concentrate fully on making plans. After the success of few mission, I couldn't believe our fortune. In just few days, we had accomplished feats we barely managed to do during the entire history of the Sons of Korhal. Commander handled all the obstacles thrown against him without any serious setbacks. His skills and daring seemed to grow with each mission. After he got a chance to try heavier vechiles and equipment, results grew even better. We were unstoppabble. But downhill was just around the corner. It was the fall of Tarsonis which changed things again.

As the fall happened, I began to have many thoughts about the new order and everybody's place in it. Commander and Raynor certainly would've been useful later on, they'd proved their worth several times. They would've been needed for keeping order in my new empire. Despite being a former Confederate lackey, Edmund Duke demonstrated his willingness and ability to combat against his superiors. Somehow I felt that he seemed to have wanted a change too, but didn't have the means or courage to do it, perhaps both. The only problem was Kerrigan. After her rescue from Confederates, she battled against them with fierceness which matched my own and proved her worthiness and ability several times in the field. But I couldn't see a place for her in the new order, she had battled against the people of the Confederation almost all her life. How could she adapt to the new system where I saw all Terrans united and working against the new common enemy, the Zerg and the Protoss. She had killed many people, first time she was ordered, second time it was revenge. I felt she wouldn't stand the thought of fighting alongside those who once had tormented her. Besides, she might cause trouble involutary one way or other in the future, considering her past. It would create too much strife as time would go on. There wasn't any other choice. It would be better for her to perish here on Tarsonis where the death of old and the birth of new order takes place. But how to do it without causing suspicion in her? Not to mention in those close to her, Commander and Jim Raynor. Duke won't complain about it, he's into my plans all the way. Those where my thoughts then. I was desperately thinking a way to do it when the arrival of the Protoss gave me an idea. Protoss had to be engaged, otherwise they would've destroyed the Zerg too early and the corrupted Confederate goverment would've escaped. The Protoss had established a base near the primary Hive Cluster of the Zerg. Kerrigan with a small group landed right between them, practically right next to the Zerg base. Commander handled the initial attack against the Protoss while Kerrigan oversaw matters on site. I had calculated that Zerg considered Protoss a powerful enemy and didn't attack them even with a help of mass until severely pressed. It hadn't happened yet. Kerrigan's group was hard pressed when they were attacked by both Zerg and Protoss from each direction. Despite the opposition, Commander managed to reduce the activity of the Protoss base beyond operable condition. As that happened, the Zerg apparently noticed they didn't have to worry about any attacks from the Protoss and the human base next to them was small enough for them to destroy, so they attacked it with all they had. Just as I had planned. I ordered immediate disengagement from the orbit, there was nothing else to do.

One last thing was left, go to Korhal and establish the new Terran Dominion. But the unthinkable happened when I first addressed both Commander and Raynor on the matter. Raynor dared to speak against me because I left Kerrigan on Tarsonis. I made perfectly clear to him I won't allow anyone to stand in my way to rule this sector, but he continued to defy me and then annouced his departure. Commander went with him without any further word. Next thing I noticed few other ships were departing after Hyperion as well, they'd won some others to their side too. It was clear all those who'd come with them from Mar Sara went, but most surprising was that few of my original crew went too! I couldn't allow it. Not when I had come so far to gain the rulership of this sector, I certainly wouldn't allow a few insubordinations to stand in my way. I ordered Duke to prevent their escape, they were likely to cause trouble so eliminating them now would've saved the trouble of dealing with them later. Only a moment passed, when Duke announced that he'd managed to activate the Ion Cannon, the defence weapon of the Tarsonis. That would prevent Raynor's fleet from escaping. Duke also left a garrison to guard the cannon against any attempts to destroy it. Feeling the situation was in control, I departed with Duke and headed to Korhal. We were given a hero's welcome when we arrived to Korhal, the remnants of Confed rule were already overthrown here so setting up new things went smoothly and quickly. Shortly after our arrival, we received a message from the small remnant of the garrison back on the orbit of Tarsonis. Raynor and Commander had managed to defend themselves against their attacks, bypassed their defenses and destroyed the Ion Cannon, then made their escape. Unfortunate as it was, there was no time to worry about it then. There was a Dominion to establish.

Soon after I had things under control, I held my coronation speech which was heard in almost every corner of the Koprulu sector. That way I cemented the unification of humankind in this sector against our enemies, the Zerg and the Protoss. A week passed, then I experienced a weird dream one night. I couldn't make anything of it, but somehow I knew it concerned Kerrigan. I was hearing her voice in my head which kept saying, "Char." How it was possible, I don't know. I assumed she was sending a telepatchic message. But into my dreams from so far away? I never had believed her to be so powerful. Next morning I sended Duke to investigate the matter. If Kerrigan was alive somehow, I had to find out if was the dream true or just a delusion . How she was alive among the Zerg puzzled me. From what I'd been hearing, Zerg don't leave their victims alive. I told Duke to be watchful for Zerg. He should try to kill all the Zerg he comes against, but if they start attacking in overwhelming power, he should retreat at once. There's no point in wasting manpower and equipment to something which may just have been a figment of my tired mind.

Only two and a half days later, Duke returned with some casualities. From what he'd been able to observe, Zerg had guarded something in a small base but been unable to discern what. Although Duke attacked with all the heavy arsenal we have, Zergs still beat him back after some time had passed. When they had destroyed half of his base, Duke ordered retreat. After he returned, he gave a detailed report. The Zerg which he encountered on Char seemed more ferocious and cunning than any other so far. Every Zerg attack he had witnessed, Duke felt there was somekind of higher intelligence behind their attack than usual. I wasn't sure what this meant but if the Zerg would start displaying more cunning and power than they already had, I'd have to prepare for possible onslaught against Dominion outposts with greater care. Otherwise I decided not to bother with the Zerg any further if they didn't attack us first. And since there'd been no sign of Kerrigan, there wasn't any need for further search. Running the Dominion was more pertinent.

A long time passed before anything noticeable occurred. First an alert came from the Dylarian shipyards, Duke naturally handled the matter. He came back rather fast with very disturbing news. A Terran force which called itself United Earth Directorate had attacked the shipyard and captured all the cruisers parked there. They had come from the distant world of our origin, Earth. What they did here was became clear immediately. Duke told me that they'd come to conquer this sector in the name of UED and Humanity. They planned to overthrow me and establish their power here. What would happen beyond that, I didn't dare to think. I immediately ordered general alert on Korhal. We had to prepare for invasion. We had barely gotten defenses in place when UED fleet arrived on high orbit. We were prepared for a full scale frontal attack. Instead, they first attacked and disabled my fleet by destroying the physics lab. We couldn't bring any Battlecruisers to combat. Fortunately, they didn't have time to attack all the facilities which managed our defenses. Still, I wondered how did they know where to strike in the first place? No one outside me and Duke should know the inns and outs of our defensive network. Only possibility was a traitor who was telling all our secrets to UED.

I still had the Nukes left for defense. Althought the Ghosts managed to strike hard on their defenses with Nukes, it didn't help much in the end. Slowly but surely, they penetrated my defense lines one by one. Finally they were battering down my command center. At that moment I had no other choice but to flee. Surrender was not an option. But UED had prepared for such attempts. Before I could gain enough speed to enter orbit, they surrounded me and prepared to eliminate me. But then happened the unexpected. Jim Raynor appeared from nowhere and said that a mutual friend wanted me alive, then we were teleported away from the blockade and Korhal. We arrived to a Protoss base in their homeplanet Aiur where Raynor dumped me into a cold sleep chamber without saying a word. When I regained consiousness, I was in an empty room with a monitor which displayed Raynor and Kerrigan. She had survived after all and become some kind of hybrid between human and Zerg. She was very convincing in not having any hard feelings towards me for leaving her on Tarsonis. Althought I was sceptical, her promise to help me gain back the rule of Korhal was too good to let pass. With the combined power of Raynor's troops, Protoss technology lend by a Protoss called Fenix and the Zergs controlled by Kerrigan, I was sure we would succeed against UED.

We did succeed all right, much better than I thought we would. But then happened the thing I'd been fearing all the time. Kerrigan made her treacherous movement. She attacked us while we were all asleep from the previous battle. She attacked relentlessy against both my troops and the Protoss. Edmund Duke was the first to fall. I wasn't surprised when I asked her reason for the attack, she hadn't forgotten her abandonment back in Tarsonis. Later, from what I could observe in that chaos, she killed Raynor's Protoss buddy, Fenix. Raynor jumped on this and swore to kill Kerrigan someday, somehow. As much as I share his sentiment, it shall be me who'll kill her in the end. She has hit too hard against me, I can't forgive that. Immediately after that, Raynor fled the Korhal. Where he went, I couldn't say. I feel we're bound to meet someday again. Kerrigan departed with her brood soon afterwards. Considering my state, I wondered why she didn't finish me there and then. For some reason, it seemed she was more interested in attacking against the UED because she and her brood went to same direction as UED had went. Whatever she would be doing, I had to prepare for in case she returned. Even if she didn't, I had to gather everything I and everyone I knew could spare and strike against her before it was too late.

Suddenly, the inter-comm opened and my personal assistant hailed me. "What is it? I ordered not to be disturbed." I replied.

"I'm terribly sorry sir, but I have to remind that your speech will start in ten minutes. You told me to remind you when the time would be near." She replied.

"What? Yes, of course, thank you. I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice the passage of time. I'll finish my paperwork and be there soon. Prepare the things I ordered earlier."

"Yes sir."

Soon I'll have to go give a speech which I hope will reinforce the trust and morale of the public which these attacks likely have weakened. Althought the speech is already carefully prepared, I still hope there would be something more concrete and belieable material I could offer to reassure people's faith in me. Otherwise I can only hope and make the best use of my speaking provess. I'll better finish this journal first.

After contacting and gaining help from those who I've associated in the past, I headed to Char with my new fleet where Kerrigan's movements had been tracked. This time I'll finisher off. While on the way there, I noticed another fleet approaching from other direction. It was the remainer of UED's fleet. It was clear they had the same plans as I had. Perhaps I could use it to my advantage. I opened the Comm–Link as I came within the perimeter orbit of the platform where she was residing. Althought I tried acting surprised when she told about the other fleets, she saw through it. It was a surprise when the Protoss too appeared and told their intention to destroy her. She wasn't shaken in the sligthest, just told me plainly that I shouldn't have attempted this stunt, it would take more than what I had to bring her down. I wasn't so sure about that, I felt she was getting too overconfident of herself. We were the unlikeliest allies ever, UED, Koprulu Terrans and Protoss. Despite our differences, we were united against a common foe. Kerrigan wouldn't survive this onslaught, I was sure of that.

As things went, we were all defeated. The Protoss were the first. A Protoss called Artanis told Kerrigan she would pay for that someday, then he fled with the remains of his fleet. Long after that, she beat down my forces. She calmly told me to go back to Korhal and wait for her coming. As much as I hated it, I had to leave with my tail between my legs. She had defeated me. Back then, I didn't know what happened to the remains of UED. Only after I reached Korhal, I heard from my intelligence network that UED had been driven back too and last they where seen heading to the border of Koprulu sector. I wondered how they had been left alive too, currently Kerrigan should've had a bigger grudge towards them than any other. She knew it as well as I that if they were left free to go, they would be back with a bigger and stronger fleet someday. Unfortunately, my fleet wasn't in the condition to give chase and finish the job, so I had to leave it at that. I could only concentrate on my own immediate problems.

Then the Inter-Comm turned on again. "What is it now? If I'm continually interrupted, I'll never get anything done," I blurted, annoyed.

"Once again, I apologise for the disturbance sir, but surveillance department has an important message to you. I'll patch them to you."

"Very well, this better be important."

"Emperor Mengsk, Shaye from the surveillance here. We've picked up something you need to hear."

"Tell me then."

"Just few minutes ago, our remote sensors picked up massive activity near the border of the sector. A large scale battle had taken place there. UED fleet had been seen heading in that direction. Sensor logs also showed an larger Zerg fleet following them. After we'd alerted our furthest outpost squad to check it out, there was nothing left, only some scrap metal flowing here and there. Their long range scanners had shown few Zergs leaving the area. Other than that, there was nothing. The whole UED fleet had been destroyed."

"Thank you, you've done well. Keep monitoring in case you detect something else." I replied.

"Thank you sir, we'll do so."

So Kerrigan didn't let them go after all. Should've guessed it, they posed a threat to her and thinking back the incident here on Korhal, she struck down those who more or less directly posed a threat to her. But she could've have hunted me down as well before I even reached Korhal, UED couldn't possible have held her attention that much. It's becoming obvious she's playing with me. She has demonstrated she can destroy me whenever she wants, without too much effort on her part. Very well then, if she's coming to raze me down someday, I'll be ready for her. I won't go down without a fight. She'll have to pour every Zerg at her command on me before I fall. That I promise. But now, I have to go give the speech which I hope will reaffirm the faith of the people in Koprulu sector towards me. And I just came up a thing which will help me to do it. No one else knows about the UED fleet's destruction, even if they do, they don't know who did it. I can easily take the credit for it and assure the people that those who dared to come and try invade us, have received their just punishment. Yes, that'll work nicely.

THE END


End file.
